ViRGE wrote:Finally, am I the only one who finds themselves preferring the Akibaranger cover of Girls in Trouble over the original? Something about the lower octave of having the men sing it gives it a better harmony.

Can't say I prefer the cover over the original, but Nobuo and Tsuu do harmonize quite well. But, I'm a huge JasUme fanboy, so I'm biased as hell. At least it gives me an excuse to sing along in my male voice...though it's not like that's stopped me the last 9 years (oh dear lord it's been that long?!).

I got the impression that this was aimed at, and written by, people who didn't know anything about Power Rangers other than what one might learn in Japan by reading a three line newspaper article. So it's not going to parody anything that' we'd recognize as Power Rangers other than the name and the vague premise that they're Americans replacing the Sentai.

arromdee wrote:I got the impression that this was aimed at, and written by, people who didn't know anything about Power Rangers other than what one might learn in Japan by reading a three line newspaper article. So it's not going to parody anything that' we'd recognize as Power Rangers other than the name and the vague premise that they're Americans replacing the Sentai.

i do not think so, i think it is actually the other way around. Power rangers spd aired in japan a short time ago, so it should still be fresh in people's minds...especially since this series is aimed to sentai fans who probably have at least heard of power rangers spd airing.
I think this is actually a reference to sentai fans who hate PR because it is not sentai, just switching places to show how much of a jerks some of them look like, after all, can you tell me you have never met someone who might say some of the things powerful rangers said in this episode?

Well, it looks like the thoughts/debates regarding this episode has been deeply discussed. So I'll comment on the commercials. The HD Remaster 2.0 Blu Ray for Ultraman looks great! Not only the quality itself, but also the packaging design looks very premium.

takenoko wrote:Nah. The joke is that in the alternate universe, Japan ripped off Power Rangers to create Sentai. In reality, Power Rangers rights holders probably have to pay Toei some stuff for using their material in their shows. Again, reality is bent for the sake of comedy.

yes, but why start with wild force of all series? it just looks like a random series to pick. i would have picked time force,(considered one of the three best pr series) or maybe SPD, since that one seemed to have a decent reception in Japan, and i could see them remaking it. I don't know, it's just WIld force looks like just random.

I'm a little late to the discussion maybe, but I think they actually chose the 8th Power(ful) Rangers show, Wild Force, to mirror the fact that Saban had originally planned or maybe attempted to localize the 8th Super Sentai series, Bioman, well before MMPR came out.

I don't know if Saban used Bioman footage without Toei's permission or not. The little searching I've done on the internet doesn't say anything like that. Most sources just say no network wanted to pick it up in the states. So maybe that "steal" part in Akiba was just to give the story some context, but that 8th series part seems pretty non-coincidental to me. Also, I agree with how Takenoko and some others view the episode. I don't think there was any malice in it. It was just a parody, playing up American stereotypes, and not meaning to offend. Don't forget that when Ban (or Ban's actor, rather) appeared in Akiba 1, he told Nobuo that he was going to a Power Rangers S.P.D. convention. There was no negativity in that Power Rangers reference at all.